Taco Salad

Ingredients
sliced carrot
sliced jalepeno's
diced cucumber
chopped green pepper
chopped tomato
chopped onion
chopped Romaine lettuce
jalepeno's
shredded cheese
sour cream
taco sauce
taco seasoning
tortilla chips
Gardein burger (thawed, ground)

Preparation.  I thawed three vegetable burgers and ground them in a chopper.  Using a couple of T of olive oil, add ground burgers to skillet, Brown, season, then de-glaze pan with a little water.

Prep your salad.  I like to do this in layers, placing lettuce on the bottom then a few chips, add small drops of sour cream, cheese, veggies, repeat.  When you reach the top, sprinkle your vegetable crumbles and the rest of your toppings.  Add more sour cream and taco sauce.  And you're done!

homemade onion rings and sauce

1 large organic onion

cold water bath

gluten free bread crumbs

3 flax eggs

1/2 c oat flour

oil for frying

cookie sheet lined with wax paper

large zip lock baggie

Sauce: 

2 T mayo

1 T sour cream

1 t minced garlic

dash (onion powder, parsley, cumin, smoked red pepper, cayenne pepper)

pinch of salt

Slice onion into 1/2 inch thick slices. Separate the rings and drop into a cold ice bath to remove skins. Place rings into baggie. Shake with oat flour to coat. This layer will help flax egg to stick. Next, dip each ring into flax egg, and last into bread crumbs. Shake off excess. Place rings onto lined cookie sheet. Place into freezer to set. I make these in batches and store into a large baggie. This way when I want rings I can just pull a few out and bake or fry.

Enjoy!

vegetarian swedish meatballs

Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs over
Garlic Mashed Potatoes w/ Roasted Brussels Sprouts
& Light Life Vegetarian Bacon

Ingredients

for gravy:
9-12 vegetarian meatballs (see recipe)
1/4 c sour cream
salt, pepper, dry parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, ground ginger, ground cloves (to desired taste)
1 T soy sauce
3 T flour
16 oz water (more/less, as necessary)
2 T butter or margarine
1 T vegetable oil
3 mushrooms sliced
1 small onion chopped
vegetable oil for saute

Process

Saute onions and mushrooms in a medium to large skillet. Remove and drain. Without wiping the skillet (save the yums!) add butter and 1 T vegetable oil. On high heat allow the skillet to lightly smoke but without burning while mixing 8 oz of water with flour. Stir into skillet with whisk and add more water as needed. Add soy sauce. Add sour cream. Season and taste to your desired flavor. Add sauteed mushrooms and onions. Stir. Add meatballs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat, covered.

Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. I preferred mash potatoes because I do not eat enough whole grain egg noodles to make it worth stocking. Three meatballs makes a serving. This recipe will make 3-4 servings, depending on the size of your meatballs.

to make meatless meatballs:

Ingredients

2 celery ribs diced

2 green onions diced

½ cup chopped carrots diced

¼ cup diced green pepper

8 oz. pkg. mushrooms optional

3 garlic cloves or 3 T of minced garlic

1 c quick oats or oat flour

3 T cornstarch

1-2 slices of ground wheat bread

2-3 cups of dry TSP

1-2 cups cooked brown rice

2 T Vegetable Broth (powder)

2-3 cups hot water

3 T soy sauce

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T ketchup

Salt, pepper, basil, etc. and whatever herbs you want to add.

Vegan eggs (or the equivalent in egg replacement) dry flax option

[ to make vegan egg, mix 3 T of ground flax to ¼ cup hot water]

Process

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dissolve bouillon in water set aside to cool. Dehydrate TSP in bouillon broth.  Chop veggies and sauté in veg. oil. Allow to cool. Combine all other ingredients until well incorporated. Brush lightly with olive or veg. oil. To form meatballs use a melon ball scoop or a tablespoon to form round balls into lightly oiled miniature cupcake tin. The mini tin makes 24 at a time. Brush each meatball with oil. Place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Check to see if balls have solidified. Turn each and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Meatballs will be brown and firm. Oven temperatures vary so monitor your cooking time. Recipe will make 3-4 dozen.

Enjoy!

blueberry muffins

this recipe will make 1/2 dozen

1 cup fresh blueberries (if frozen, fold as is to avoid coloring your batter)
1 cup AP flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 cup baking splenda or sugar
1/4 t salt
1 jumbo egg
1/4 cup rice milk
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 stick of butter softened
1/2 cup sour cream

Soften butter, then cream sugar with butter. Add oil, sour cream, milk, and egg. Combine dry ingredients then gradually add to wet ingredients. Fold in blueberries. Fill six paper lined muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Yummy!

Blueberry Muffins

stuffed zucchini

INGREDIENTS

3 zucchinis

1/2 large onion, chopped fine

1 T butter

5 - 6 slices MorningStar Farms bacon, chopped

1 T sour cream

1/4 to 1/2 t salt

1/4 t curry powder

1 Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

1 t fresh thyme leaves

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh cracked black pepper

(you can also make these vegetarian and take the bacon out or use a meat sub. or replace with some olives or any other veggie)

DIRECTIONS

Give the zucchini a quick wash for good measure. Slice in half lengthwise. Leave the ends on to keep the filling in. Scoop out the flesh with a melon baller or a spoon. Leave a ledge of zucchini around the edges. For the life of me, I couldn't make straight lines. That's okay. They were still delicious. Arrange the zucchini boats in a baking dish. Chop the zucchini flesh as small as you like.

Finely chop half a sweet onion. Chop up some good smokey bacon. You could leave this out for a vegetarian side dish (maybe add some chopped mushrooms?)... but my family goes through quite a lot bacon, so it's going in! Add the curry powder... cook until desired doneness of onions and remove from heat. To the zucchini flesh, add sour cream. (How can this be bad?). Rough chop some fresh thyme leaves. Mix onion and bacon mixture with other ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Stir in the tomatoes. Seed them or else there may be too much moisture in the filling. You don't really want the filling to be all runny when you cut into it. Refill the zucchini shells with the filling mixture.

Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Of course you know me. I'm gonna grate even more cheese on them again... Smokiness from the bacon. Salty from the Parmesan cheese. Soft and buttery zucchini.